The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
Make the Fed’s Report to Congress Worth Reading
English Summary
The article argues that the Federal Reserve's current Monetary Policy Report is largely redundant, merely summarizing data already available in the public domain. To restore its value, the report must be reformed to mandate accountability by requiring the Fed to explain deviations from established monetary policy rules, detail progress toward shrinking its balance sheet, and analyze significant divergences between its own economic forecasts and realized data. Implementing these changes would allow Congress and the public to better scrutinize the Fed's decision-making process. Ultimately, the authors recommend that Congress codify these reforms to ensure the report serves a genuine oversight function, or alternatively, repeal the requirement entirely.
中文摘要
本文主張,聯邦準備理事會(Federal Reserve)現行的《貨幣政策報告》內容已屬多餘,僅是總結了公有領域已可取得的數據。為恢復其價值,該報告必須進行改革,要求聯準會具備問責機制,包括說明其偏離既定貨幣政策規則的情況、詳述縮減資產負債表進度,以及分析其自身經濟預測與實際數據之間重大分歧之處。實施這些變革將使國會和公眾能夠更有效地審視聯準會的決策過程。最終,作者建議國會應將這些改革法律化,以確保該報告能履行真正的監督職能;或可選擇完全廢除該報告的要求。
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